


CAT BLANC

by OminousPredictions



Series: CONSEQUENCES [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Cataclysm | Cat Miraculous Superpower, Character Death, Episode: s03 Chat Blanc, Evil Lila Rossi, F/F, F/M, Fox Miraculous, Graphic Description, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, M/M, No Lila Rossi Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27259528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OminousPredictions/pseuds/OminousPredictions
Summary: Fifth in the CONSEQUENCES series.The events of "Cat Blanc", involving Lila. And once the timeline is corrected, Ladybug realises that Lila has to be stopped, so she enacts a plan to remove Lila as a threat to the future. Plus, Rena Rouge really doesn't like being lied to or impersonated.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Series: CONSEQUENCES [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830691
Comments: 40
Kudos: 501





	CAT BLANC

**Author's Note:**

> There is a fair amount of violence in this fic, as well as rather graphic depiction and description of it. It's not as long as the fourth installment, but sometimes the best things come in small packages and you all just want to see Lila suffer, admit it. So, I shall oblige.

Lila was bored and annoyed. The class outing to the Eiffel Tower hadn’t been too appealing when she first heard about it because it was where she’d suffered two humiliating defeats by Ladybug and the only reason she’d decided to go instead of making up some excuse to get out of it is because Adrien was going and she might as well try and split up him and Marinette, but then something had come up and they’d cancelled at the last minute, which the class had infuriatingly believed and encouraged. She was the only one not happy about the fact that the two-bit designer was now Adrien’s girlfriend; everyone else was beyond delighted at it. Well, except Chloe, but she was remaining largely silent on the issue out of respect for Adrien, limiting herself to disapproving sniffs and eyerolls. 

Adrien. And Marinette. Every time she thought about it made her angry, enough to want to wrap her fingers around Marinette’s throat and squeeze the breath out of her. The sight of that insufferable goody-goody looking happy and carefree by Adrien’s side made her sick to her stomach; that should be HER there, on Adrien’s arm, enjoying all the attention and adulation! She had tried to undermine them at every turn, mostly by spreading rumours that Marinette was only dating Adrien to use him as her ticket to success in the fashion industry, but was thwarted at each turn. To add insult, Marinette’s commissions on the side had EXPLODED as a direct result of her being in the spotlight as Adrien’s girlfriend, to the extent that she couldn’t keep up with the demand. Her enemy was destined for fame, fortune and glory and it just wasn’t fair! But she wouldn’t stop trying to get rid of her, dig up or create some sort of scandal that forced Adrien to drop her like a sack of potatoes and choose Lila instead. The life of a celebrity, to be wealthy, famous, worshipped; she wanted that life. She NEEDED that life, she DESERVED that life! And she didn’t care if she had to trample over a hundred other’s hopes, dreams and lifelines to get there!

“You OK, Lila?”, asked Alya’s voice, bringing her back abruptly.

“Of course, Alya.”, she replied, making sure she sounded otherwise.

“You sure? Cause you look a bit off.”, Alya remarked. “Are you feeling ill or something? Is it another one of your migraines?”

Lila was ready and willing to grab at the ready-made excuse to jump ship, but then she hesitated.

“No, it’s just……………. Marinette.”, Lila said.

To her surprise and irritation, Alya looked at her with a weary and annoyed expression.

“Lila, please, enough already.”, she said. “I know you and Marinette don’t exactly see eye-to-eye and it is a bit grating, but this relationship she has with Adrien is sincere. She loves him, and he loves her.”

“I know, Alya.”, Lila replied. “It’s just that Adrien’s always so trusting and kind that he might not recognise any potential ulterior motives from people. I mean, Marinette does so badly want to be a fashion designer and Adrien is a model for a famous fashion company.”

To her extreme annoyance, however, not only did this fail to convince Alya but it got her angry looks from some of the others.

“Marinette is not a freeloader or a coaster!”, Nathaniel said, whilst his boyfriend Marc nodded furiously. “She gets where she gets on her own merit!”

“And she would never be a copycat or want preferential treatment!”, Rose insisted angrily. “She hates that! She went and yelled at Bob Roth and XY when they stole Kitty Section’s song!”

“Yeah!”, Mylene said. “If Adrien did try and get her an in, she’d bend his arm backwards for it!”

Alix eyed Lila in a way the other girl did not like; it was shrewd and calculating, and boded ill.

“You know, Lila, for all you’ve said that Marinette has been giving you a hard time, she barely ever hangs around with you.”, she remarked.

“She does it when no one’s around!”, Lila claimed.

“Convenient.”, Alix sniped. “Furthermore, you always seem to bring her up in a negative way despite your claims of wanting to be friends with her. Stirring the pot, shall we say, rather than taking it off the stove.”

“I want to be friends with her!”, Lila protested, feeling sick at the very notion. “It’s just that whenever I’m near her, I just get so scared because of the trauma!”

“As may be, but I don’t like the implications you’ve brought up about her.”, Alix replied. “If you’ve got a problem with Marinette, be honest about it rather than all this behind-the-scenes sniping.”

Lila glared at Alix, realising that this pink-haired punk was a lot cleverer and more observant than she looked and perhaps she should head her off before she could become a real threat. Maybe she could threaten to break that stupid pocketwatch Alix always carried around with her; apparently it was a family heirloom that was centuries old, though Lila was of the opinion that it was just a cheap, tacky thing bought off the internet and passed off as an heirloom to make Alix feel more special about herself and her loser family. Before a scene could occur, however, Alya stepped in to mediate.

“Hey, hey!”, she said. “Let’s not quarrel right now. We’re here for a nice day out to lunch, so let’s focus on that. We can argue semantics about our friends later. Right, Lila?”

That last bit was asked in an unusually firm and stern tone from the reporter and Lila had no choice but to agree. She dragged her heels behind the others and grumbled as they approached the foot of Gustave Eiffel’s masterpiece of metalwork and engineering. They’d come just after the lunch rush, so there wasn’t a massive queue for the lifts. Alya’s phone chimed with an alert and she checked it.

“Ooh, someone’s just spotted Ladybug and Cat Noir near Le Grand Paris!”, she said. “Odd. There’s no akuma on the loose.”

“Maybe they’re on patrol, babe.”, Nino replied. “You can miss out on them just this once, you know.”

“OK.”, Alya said. “But if I end up missing some high-end akuma, you all owe me.”

Lila rolled her eyes, hoping that there would soon be an akuma that would finally take down Ladybug.

“It’ll do you good to not run around after akumas just once.”, Nino said.

“I suppose.”, Alya reluctantly conceded. “But you know I always- what in the world is that?”

As one they all turned, following her pointing finger, and saw something small and black thrown high into the sky in the distance. As they watched, a second dark object rose to the same height and smacked the first one hard in the direction of the Eiffel Tower, right where they were standing. There was a loud thud as it hit the tower and then fell heavily to the ground. To their shock, they saw that it was Cat Noir.

“Cat Noir!”, Nino cried. 

“We have to help him!”, Rose squealed. “He could be hurt!”

They ran to the hero’s side, but before they even got there the second figure landed in a crouch and stood up, causing them to stop dead in their tracks as they recognised him.

“Hawk Moth!”, Marc cried in horror. “He’s here!”

But Hawk Moth paid no attention to the paralysed teens, focusing entirely on Cat Noir.

“We can save your mother, using your Miraculous and hers!”, he said.

The kids gasped, Alya filming live but unable to speak.

“Hawk Moth is Cat Noir’s father?”, Juleka said, stunned.

“Kind of a cliche.”, Nathaniel muttered, not quite getting his priorities in order.

Cat Noir, clearly wracked with emotion, could only crawl backwards away from the purple-suited man in horror.

“No! Just stop!”, he pleaded, begged even.

Suddenly a red-and-black-spotted figure jumped down to stand next to Hawk Moth; Ladybug!

“Don’t listen to him!”, she implored Cat Noir. “You know there would be a terrible price to pay in exchange!”

“If she really loved you, she’d let you save your mother!”, Hawk Moth rebutted.

So Hawk Moth wanted Ladybug and Cat Noir’s Miraculous………… to bring back his wife? Lila scoffed in disgust; what a pathetic motive! But now she knew that the two Miraculous combined offered potentially unlimited power………… and she wanted that. And by the looks of it, Hawk Moth was about to win. Cat Noir looked wildly from Ladybug to Hawk Moth, clearly torn.

“Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!!!!!!!!!”, he bellowed.

This seemed to be what Hawk Moth had been waiting for, as he swung his elegant, purple cane through the air. The ornate pommel popped open and a familiar black-and-purple butterfly flew out of it, making a beeline for Cat Noir. 

“Oh no you don’t, Hawk Moth!”, Ladybug exclaimed.

She drew her yo-yo and prepared to snag the akuma with it, but then something completely unexpected happened. Lila broke cover, ran up behind Ladybug and seized her in a death grip.

“Do it, Hawk Moth!”, she cried. “I’ve got her!”

The class blanched in shock and even Hawk Moth looked startled, if only for a second. 

“Excellent work, my loyal minion.”, he said. “Grab her earrings whilst I take care of my son!”

Ladybug struggled in Lila’s grasp, but the Italian girl hung on.

“Stop!”, she cried. “Let me go! I have to stop him!”

“No chance, Ladybug!”, Lila hissed in the heroine’s ear. “I told you, I hate you more than anything else! I’ll gladly help Hawk Moth burn this city to the ground if it means getting rid of you. And now, your Miraculous will be mine!”

Ladybug felt pure, cold horror steal through her at those words; why had she ignored Lila as a threat for so long? And how could she have anticipated how cruel and petty the girl was that she’d hate her enough to commit terrorism over being called a liar? She thrashed her head from side to side, trying to prevent Lila from getting a good grip on her earrings, whilst Hawk Moth strolled almost lazily towards Cat Noir, presently in the throes of an emotional breakdown, and the class struggled to come to terms with what they’d just witnessed.

“Lila’s………….. working for Hawk Moth?”, Nathaniel whispered, in utter horror.

“But……….. but that means……… Marinette……..”, Rose stuttered.

“Was right.”, Alya finished for her, rigid with shock and guilt. 

Ladybug, desperate to escape Lila’s grip and get the akuma before it could infect Cat Noir (it had halted in mid-air, confused by the emotions roiling in the class, but Hawk Moth now grabbed it in one hand as he continued to advance on Cat Noir), slammed her foot down on Lila’s whilst simultaneously driving her left elbow into Lila’s solar plexus. Lila released her, winded and gasping for breath, and Ladybug darted forwards again only for Lila to jump and tackle her to the ground where they rolled around, fighting tooth and nail and filled with hatred for the other. Ladybug managed to gain the upper hand, wrapping one of Lila’s braids around her neck in a chokehold.

“I should’ve thrown you off the Eiffel Tower after I defeated you the first time!”, she snarled.

“Your mistake, Ladybug!”, Lila spat. “And now you’re going to lose!”

Cat Noir, seeing Hawk Moth approaching him with the akuma clutched in his hand, staggered upright and held up his staff in a shaky opening stance.

“Father!”, he pleaded. “Please, stop all of this! This isn’t right!”

CRACK!

Cat Noir’s head snapped to one side as Hawk Moth whacked him cleanly upside it with his cane; a single, bloodstained tooth flew out of his mouth and he fell to the ground clutching his jaw and whimpering.

“Silence, you ungrateful boy!”, Hawk Moth shouted. “All of this was to bring your mother back to us, and you dare stand there and order me to stop! Clearly, you still haven’t learned to appreciate just what I’ve done for you!”

“You just whacked him hard enough to knock out a tooth!”, Alix bellowed fearlessly. “Real Father of the Year, man!”

“Yeah, you’re worse than Adrien’s old man!”, Nino chorused. 

Hawk Moth turned to look at them and grinned nastily.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”, he asked.

They stared at him, wondering what he meant by that. Chloe was the one who twigged it first.

“Gabriel Agreste?!”, she exclaimed. “YOU’RE Hawk Moth?!”

“The very same.”, Hawk Moth replied.

This staggered them even more, especially when the implications hit and their stunned minds spotted and connected the threads.

“If Adrien’s dad is Hawk Moth, that means Adrien is Cat Noir!”, Nino gasped.

“And if Adrien’s Cat Noir, then that means………..”, Alya trailed off.

They all looked over in shock at where Ladybug and Lila were still locked in mortal combat; Ladybug was protected by and large by the magic of her suit, but Lila was giving as good as she got. Her nails raked Ladybug’s face, drawing blood, and Ladybug replied by grabbing Lila’s second braid and giving it a good yank.

“MARINETTE!!!”, chorused several voices. 

“What?”, Ladybug replied, looking up reflexively at the sound of her civilian identity’s name.

She realised her mistake a second too late and clapped a hand over her mouth, but Lila had also heard and took advantage of her foe’s distraction to flip her over. Clambering on top of her, Lila fixed her hands around Ladybug’s throat and began to squeeze.

“So, goody two-shoes Maribrat is also the self-righteous Ladybug!”, she hissed. “Now I’m not going to settle for taking your earrings! I’m going to take your life before I rip them off your corpse!”

Ladybug choked and clawed at the hands around her neck, to no avail. Lila’s eyes shone with malice and Ladybug felt a stab of real fear as she realised this lying sociopath was fully intent on strangling her to death. She could hear her classmates shouting in the background, hear grunts and clashes as Cat fought Hawk Moth, but they were getting muffled and her vision was starting to blur and go grey at the edges.

“After I take your Miraculous, I’m gonna go after the rest of your pathetic family, your friends, everyone you hold dear!”, Lila said triumphantly.

Then a phone slammed into the side of her head and she fell to the side with a yelp of pain. Ladybug rolled over onto her hands and knees, gasping for breath and massaging her throat. The phone clattered next to her, with a cracked screen and a familiar Ladybug charm, and she looked up to see a livid Alya.

“Consider that a down payment for the multitude of beatings I owe you!”, she shrieked at Lila.

“Alya, I………..”, Ladybug began.

“Later!”, Alya cut across. “You can owe me a new phone and a long exclusive after you kick his ass! Get in there, girl!”

Ladybug nodded with a grin, but Lila recovered from the phone blow to her head and pounced on her as she tried to join the fight against Hawk Moth, bringing her down and trying to grab her earrings. Ladybug fought her off and tried to rise, but Lila grabbed her leg and held on.

“Your day is done, Marinette!”, she said. “I told you I’d win-”

“Get the FUCK OFF ME!!!!”, Ladybug shrieked.

And she kicked Lila full in the face with her left foot. There was a loud crack and Lila fell back with a scream of agony, throwing both hands over her rapidly swelling and bleeding nose.

“You broke my nose!”, she cried.

“Be thankful it wasn’t your neck!”, Ladybug snarled in reply.

But she had been hobbled for too long. Hawk Moth knocked Cat Noir’s staff aside and grabbed him in a neck hold. His hand came up, showing him holding the akuma, then he brought it down.

“NO!”, with Ladybug being far from the only one who shouted.

But too late. The akuma entered the bell hanging on Cat Noir’s collar and he went rigid before slumping to the ground as Hawk Moth released him, standing over him with a triumphant grin.

“Cat Blanc, I’m giving you the infinite power of destruction!”, he crowed. “Together you and I will seize Ladybug’s Miraculous and awaken your mother!”

Cat Noir grabbed his head, eyes squeezed shut and teeth gritted as he clearly fought against what was going on in his head. Everyone was dumbstruck, not sure what to do.

“Resist it, Adrien!”, Ladybug cried. “You’re stronger than this! You have to resist!”

“Listen to her, Adrien!”, Nino called. “You can’t give into him! He’s evil!”

“You’re a hero of Paris!”, Alya joined in. “You can’t give into him! You have to fight!”

The others began to shout encouraging words as well, but Hawk Moth had other ideas.

“No!”, he shouted. “You don’t have a choice! I am your father, Adrien, and you will obey me! OBEY!!!”

And Cat Noir - Adrien - screamed long, loud and high in agony as his own father subjected him to the mental torture he’d once used on Evillustrator. It wasn’t meant to cause pain, not normally when it was in the hands of a hero; it was supposed to assert the user’s will in the event of a rebellious hero or if the akuma found the wrong target. But Gabriel knew only the sujugation of force, and thus pain was what occurred. It was too much for the poor boy and tears poured down from behind the black mask as his eyes opened, pupils dilated in pain and terror.

“I’m sorry, Ladybug!”, he sobbed.

And the familiar purplish-black energy washed over him, sending raw fear coursing through the watching teens. One of their beloved heroes had been akumatised right before their very eyes, bringing back memories of that awful time on Heroes’ Day. But this time it was no illusion and the result when the akumatising ether washed away was even more terrifying than the colour-inverted Ladybug illusion. Black leather and blond hair had given way to a pure, stark and harsh white like a mortuary corridor, whilst the green eyes had become a pale, icy blue that were clearly filled with terror at what he’d become.

“Seize her Miraculous, my son!”, Hawk Moth prompted.

Unable to help himself, Cat Blanc brought up his right hand, crackling and blazing with lethal white energy, to point squarely at Ladybug. She backed away fearfully, right into a waiting Lila’s vengeful clutches.

“I’ve got her!”, Lila said. “Do it! Kill her and take her Miraculous!”

“No, Adrien!”, Ladybug cried, fighting against Lila’s grip. “You must resist!”

With agonising slowness, Cat Blanc angled his charged hand to point at Hawk Moth, who blanched.

“How dare you?!”, he shouted. “Not me, Adrien!”

“You can’t give into him!”, Ladybug cried. “Whatever he wants will come at too high a cost and it may not even work!”

“SILENCE!”, Hawk Moth thundered. “ADRIEN, SEIZE HER MIRACULOUS NOW! OBEY ME!”

And he pointed his cane at Cat Blanc, who trembled and wailed at a wave of fresh agony coursing through his body. The conflicting emotions and voices were too much for him.

“I- I- I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO!”, he cried.

The white orb of destructive Cataclysm energy expanded to the size of a car, enveloping Cat Blanc so that only his outline was visible within it. Lila released Ladybug in shock and everyone began to back away in horror. 

“Milady!”, Cat Blanc’s distressed voice called from within the sphere.

“My prince!”, was all Ladybug could manage.

Lila turned on Hawk Moth.

“What’s he doing?”, she shouted. “Stop him!”

Her voice shook Ladybug out of her stupor and the heroine turned on Lila in a rage.

“You vicious little idiot!”, she shrieked. “I could have stopped him if you hadn’t been trying to kill me over a petty grudge from over a year ago!”

“How was I supposed to know his father would turn him into a stupid, angst-ridden bomb?!”, was Lila’s pathetic rebuttal. 

But the white globe of energy was expanding and Cat Blanc was crying out from within it. Ladybug stood, transfixed with horror, as did Hawk Moth, who only now was considering that perhaps he hadn’t thought this all the way through. The class were trying to back away as well, clutching each other.

“I’m getting out of here!”, Lila shrieked. “I’m not ending up like you!”

And she turned to run.

“NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”

The scream was lost amidst the sound of the massive explosion as the Cataclysm, magnified to 100x it’s original power by both the akuma boost and Adrien’s overloading emotions, detonated. Hawk Moth and Ladybug threw up their arms in a futile attempt to shield themselves. Lila, fleeing in her ridiculously impractical boots, didn’t get far.

An enhanced Cataclysm was like a pyroclastic flow, a rare and deadly phenomenon that occurred during a volcanic eruption. Perhaps best exemplified by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, when the volcano buried four towns and killed hundreds of people. The eruption column of the volcano was unable to sustain itself and collapsed under it's own weight, sending a cloud of superheated gas and rock rushing down the side of the mountain at speeds that can average 70 to 439 miles per hour, far faster than any living thing is capable of running. The temperature within it can easily reach 1000 degrees Celsius, with any living organism caught in it's path being instantaneously incinerated or flash-fossilised. Hawk Moth, Ladybug and the others were in direct proximity to the blast and died instantly, feeling nothing. Lila, on the other hand, had run just far enough away to make her death painful. She felt agony like she’d never known course through her, a burning, scorching agony; her bones carbonised, her organs vapourised and her blood boiled. Her last conscious thought, before her brain was gone, was rage against Ladybug for being too incompetent to stop this.

======================================================================================================

All of this was observed from within a pocket dimension created by the Rabbit Miraculous, whose holder technically remained active at all times owing to the complex, non-linear relationship it had with time. The current holder, Bunnyx, watched in horror as her friends, future teammates and own younger self perished as a result of a horrible mistake whose precise nature remained unknown to her as of now. As she finished watching she felt a terrible stabbing pain in her right arm and, looking, saw to her horror that it was flickering like a glitching hologram; she was beginning to fade from existence!

By the logic of time travel, if one’s past self died or events leading to their birth were prevented, they should have faded from existence instantly. But that was not how it worked here; each and every time window around her showed a potential future, present and past. The future ones were most important since they were always in flux, forever changing according to how the present (and past) changed. Her job was to keep an eye on the timelines and ensure that one most beneficial to the world at large remained the most likely future to occur. Her beginning to fade showed that a future (or past, in her case) where she died before getting the Rabbit Miraculous was slowly becoming the most likely future to occur, but there still remained a chance to stop it. All of that hope rested on Mini-Bug’s shoulders as she darted around the flooded ruins of Paris, pursued by her insane and corrupted partner.

“Save us all from this nightmare, Ladybug!”, she pleaded. “Please!”

She turned her attention back to the window she’d been using to see the events of Cat Blanc’s akumatisation, pausing it on Lila, and her eyes narrowed with anger and hatred behind her mask.

“And then we need to have a serious talk.”, she said.

In the other time window, Ladybug fought against Cat Blanc atop one of the legs of the toppled Eiffel Tower. Above them the moon, cracked in two by a direct hit from the Mega-Cataclysm, hung over the ruined city; the hole drilled into it evoked memories of the Death Star, not an encouraging thought. If this was what it's destruction had done to Paris, it didn’t bode well for the rest of the world. Ladybug snatched Cat Blanc’s belt off and broke it, but no akuma emerged, and he retorted by firing a small Cataclysm blast at her feet. The concrete still clinging to the metal leg of the Tower crumbled and Ladybug fell with a scream towards the floodwaters below. At the last second she managed to activate her aqua-mode, but the impact with the water still hurt and stunned her. Sinking to the bottom, she saw what looked like statues arrayed on the plaza that stood beneath the Eiffel Tower and swam down to investigate. A horrified gasp escaped her as she recognised them; they were her friends!

The first ones she came to were Marc and Nathaniel. Both of them were sitting on the ground, arms around each other and heads pressed together, eyes closed. If she looked closely, she thought she could perceive a single tear, frozen forever, trailing down Marc’s cheek. Next to them were Juleka and Rose, standing but in the same position, and beyond them were Mylene and Ivan. The tall figure of Kim, recognisable by his styled hair, was hunched over two smaller figures that could only be Max and Alix, and Chloe stood with her arms thrown protectively in front of Sabrina, whose own arms were wrapped around Chloe’s waist. Then came the worst stab of agony so far as she saw the figures of Alya and Nino, both of them apparently fighting. To the untrained eye it looked like they’d been fighting each other over who would try and escape, but Ladybug knew that they were fighting over which one would try and shield the other from the blast. There had been no thought of abandoning the other, only of trying to protect them. All of them had died with their arms around someone, trying to offer some modicum of protection or comfort in their last moments. Tears stung her eyes as she observed the sad, petrified remains of her friends, frozen forever in death. Then her eyes were drawn to three more statues, further away and apart from the rest, and swam over to investigate. Her stomach lurched as she saw who they were, especially the sight of the one on the left. It was herself, one arm raised in a gesture of pleading or help and a look of terrified sadness on her face. She placed a hand on the face of her counterpart’s statue……………. and recoiled in horror as it seemed to crumble and dissolve in front of her very eyes. She spared a glance at the second statue, whose face was hidden by his arms but who was holding a familiar-looking cane; evidently Hawk Moth’s plan had literally and fatally backfired on him. But then she approached the third statue and gasped reflexively; it was Lila! Confusion rose in her, followed by suspicion and anger as she realised Lila probably had something to do with what had happened here, only to flee like the despicable coward she was when it went downhill. Her arms were thrown high into the air and her face was frozen in a death rictus of agony. In spite of herself, Ladybug felt a brief twinge of sympathy for her; unlike the other classmates, she had died alone, terrified and in pain, a fate Ladybug wouldn’t wish on anyone. But the sight of her petrified friends, and the memory of that twisted, mad facsimile of her partner waiting for her above the surface, galvanised her into action; no matter what it took, she would fix this. She could worry about how it came about later; right now, the fate of the world, possibly the universe, was at stake.

======================================================================================================

Once the magical ladybirds had fixed everything and she’d covered her intrusion to Adrien, Ladybug thought that was the end of it, until Bunnyx dragged her back into her Burrow with a face like thunder. She glanced around herself, still in awe but restraining the temptation to peek.

“You know, this place reminds me of the TARDIS from Doctor Who.”, she remarked.

“Where do you think they got the inspiration?”, Bunnyx replied, though Ladybug wasn’t sure if she was joking or not.

“So, what are we still doing here?”, Ladybug asked. “Cat Blanc is gone, never coming back, or at least I hope so.”

“There’s still a problem that spells badly for the future, Mini-Bug.”, Bunnyx replied. “Something you need to see.”

“But I thought-”, Ladybug began.

“Yes, yes, normally I’m never supposed to do this.”, Bunnyx interrupted. “I’m taking a massive risk even thinking about it, but it's better than the alternatives. Trust me, I know because I’ve seen them.”

She brought her over to a window and prepared to play it.

“I’m going to play this on mute, Mini-Bug, but there’ll be times when I’ll put the audio on.”, Bunnyx said. 

And she played it. Ladybug watched in apprehension, then shock as Lila suddenly attacked her. Bunnyx switched on the audio and Lila’s voice, filled with venomous hatred, echoed around the cavernous burrow.

“I’ll gladly help Hawk Moth burn this city to the ground if it means getting rid of you! I’m going to rip them off your corpse! I’m gonna go after the rest of your pathetic family, your friends, everyone you hold dear!”

Ladybug went rigid as the full horrible implications stole over her; Lila was working willingly with Hawk Moth! And hated her enough to actually be tempted to kill her! Suddenly that twinge of sympathy was gone, to be replaced with murderous rage that manifested in an echoing scream of rage and her fist slamming into the time window, pausing it forcefully enough to cause it to glitch and fizzle.

“Oi! Careful!”, Bunnyx scolded. “There’s no time window repairman, you know!”

“Sorry.”, Ladybug replied dully.

Bunnyx slammed the bowl back on her head, leaving her staring at it’s shiny metal interior.

“So, a problem.”, Bunnyx said. “How to solve it, the question remains.”

“Would you call it overkill if I said ‘Fire and lots of it?’”, Ladybug asked.

“Slightly.”, Bunnyx replied. “One thing’s for sure, Lila needs to be dealt with before she becomes a real threat.”

“A real threat?”, Ladybug echoed. “You mean that’s not the worst timeline you’ve seen with her?”

Bunnyx closed her eyes and shuddered; indeed it wasn’t, but Mini-Bug didn’t need to know that. 

“No.”, she said tersely. “But what’s important is that you need to stop her. A willing collusion with Hawk Moth means she’s a danger to everyone.”

“But how do I take her down?”, Ladybug asked. “She’s exceptionally good at lying and misdirecting people. Confronting her directly only makes things worse.”

“Then confront her indirectly.”, Bunnyx replied. “Use her own tactics and methods against her to draw her into your trap.”

“Easier said than done.”, Ladybug said. “How do I do it?”

She thought hard to herself, and then it hit her.

“Ah-ha!”, she exclaimed. “I’ve got it! I’ll- OW!”

Bunnyx rapped the metal bowl hard, causing it to vibrate and echo loudly.

“No spoilers, Mini-Bug!”, she said. 

“Did you have to do that?”, Ladybug grumbled. 

“Not really.”, Bunnyx replied.

“Hrm!”, Ladybug groaned. “Right, take me back to the precise moment you left me! I have to get to work!”

The moment she was out of the Burrow, Ladybug activated her yo-yo and sent Cat Noir a message asking him to meet her at Notre-Dame. Normally they met at the Eiffel Tower, but the memories of Cat Blanc were still too raw for that. He showed up in remarkable time, looking and sounding every bit his normal self and Ladybug had to restrain herself from hugging him in relief.

“Got your message, Milady.”, he said. “So, what’s the story in Balamory?”

“Disturbing in the extreme, Cat Noir.”, Ladybug replied. “I’ve received intelligence regarding a possible Hawk Moth collaborator.”

Those words made Cat Noir snap to attention instantly, joking and carefree gone in an instant to be replaced with cold professionalism. 

“Who?”, he asked.

“Lila Rossi.”, Ladybug replied, spitting the name out like it was a foul invocation.

Cat Noir’s mouth curled into a snarl of disgust.

“Why am I not surprised?”, he remarked. 

“Kitty?”, Ladybug asked, anticipating a less subdued response.

“Remember when we fought Oni-Chan?”, Cat Noir asked. “Lila claimed her leg was hurt?”

“A little hard to forget.”, Ladybug replied, wondering if perhaps she should have let Kagami shish-kebab Lila after all.

“Well, turns out she faked that so I’d take her to safety and leave you alone with Oni-Chan so she’d kill you.”, Cat Noir said. 

Somehow this didn’t surprise Ladybug nearly as much as it should have done. In hindsight it actually made perfect sense; Oni-Chan had only been intent on chasing Lila for the first part of the fight, treating the two of them as minor annoyances to be dealt with later. When she suddenly changed her tack to attacking Ladybug relentlessly with her full attention after finally catching up to Lila, Ladybug had wondered just what had happened prior to their arrival to cause this sudden change in priorities. But leaving aside the personal beef with Lila, her possible interference in future akuma incursions was something that could not be permitted to happen. They’d been brushing her off as a threat for far too long.

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me either, Kitty.”, she said. “But that’s in the past. And I already have a plan to get rid of her.”

“I’m all ears, Milady.”, Cat Noir replied.

“First thing’s first, we need to talk to Master Fu.”, Ladybug said. 

Fortunately Master Fu was not on a shift at the cinema, welcoming them into his small but functional apartment. He took the information about Bunnyx in stride, surprisingly enough.

“The Rabbit Miraculous is one that operates outside the Order of the Guardians.”, he said pleasantly. “By it’s very nature, it is outwith our control at some point.”

Less cheerfully received, however, was the news about Lila.

“I see.”, he said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “Normally I would discourage this as your personal issue with this girl would compromise your heroic principles. However, sometimes it is necessary to use dark methods to fight dark forces. Just take care that said darkness is not allowed to consume you.”

“We won’t, Master.”, Ladybug replied.

“Then you have a plan?”, Master Fu asked.

“Yes, Master.”, Ladybug replied. “But in order to pull it off, I need the Fox Miraculous.”

Master Fu raised his eyebrows.

“I see.”, he said. “Are you sure this is wise?”

“Yes, Master.”, Ladybug replied. “Lila uses lies, tricks and deception to get what she wants. The only way to beat her is to do the same.”

“And it also adds a delicious element of irony, taking her down using the very same Miraculous she claimed to possess.”, Cat Noir chimed in.

Ladybug shot him a suspicious glance, and so missed the fearful look on Master Fu’s face as he realised Cat Noir’s mistake.

“How do you know about that?”, she asked. “I never told you.”

“Uhhhhh, actually Adrien Agreste told me.”, Cat Noir replied, seeing Master Fu shoot him a relieved look over Ladybug’s shoulder. 

“Adrien Agreste?”, Ladybug asked. “You know Adrien Agreste?”

“Sure!”, Cat Noir replied.

Ladybug was looking at him in that stern way.

“What?”, he asked defensively. “I can know people other than you, you know! You interact with that Marinette girl all the time!”

“Point taken.”, Ladybug replied. “And you’re right, I suppose. Lila lied about having the Fox Miraculous, so it’s only karmic to take her down with it.”

“Karmic indeed, Ladybug.”, Master Fu replied. “You reap what you sow, and this Lila will soon be reaping a poor harvest.”

He turned to the ancient gramophone that stood on a little, spindle-legged table in the corner and triggered a hidden mechanism. The top of the gramophone opened to reveal a secret compartment, from within it rising the Miracle Box. Master Fu removed it from the compartment, holding it reverently in his hands, before setting it on the floor in front of the two heroes.

“Ladybug, Cat Noir, you must pick an ally you can trust to fight alongside you on this mission.”, he said gravely. “Choose wisely, for such powers are only meant to serve the greater good.”

The lid of the Miracle Box opened, prompting a series of drawers to pop out in sequence. Each drawer held a Miraculous, all innocuous and inert as they waited to be called forth to better the world. On the top level of the box sat spaces for the seven most powerful Miraculouses, though only two were occupied; an orange necklace on a golden chain, shaped like a fox’s tail, and a black-and-gold hair comb, shaped like a bee. Ladybug reached out and plucked the fox necklace out of it’s space. 

“I already have the perfect person in mind.”, Ladybug said with a smile.

======================================================================================================

Alya Cesaire was in her room, touching up the Ladyblog, when she was startled by a knocking sound from the living room. Her hands went at once for the baseball bat she had leaning against the wardrobe door, memories of Pharaoh surging to the forefront of her mind. She didn’t really play baseball, but the dangers of akumas had seen a massive surge in people buying such items for the sake of home or personal protection, even if they realistically wouldn’t be that effective against them. But in the words of her sister, it was “Better to go down swinging than begging!”, and the bat was a good, strong one made of wood. Edging along the wall, bat held at the ready, she sprang into the room, pointing it around her in case of an intruder…………… and almost jumped out of her skin as she saw Ladybug and Cat Noir standing on the balcony, tapping politely on the screen door. Clutching her chest, she hurried over to unlock the door.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but there is a door!”, she said, waving them inside.

“Superheroes have no need for doors!”, Cat Noir replied. “So…….. pedestrian!”

Ladybug gave him her stern but amused look.

“What my partner means to say is we need to talk to you, Alya.”, she said. “About Lila Rossi.”

Alya was at once eager and excited, her hand going to pull her phone out of her pocket.

“That's great!”, she exclaimed. “So she did talk to you then?”

“I’m sorry?”, Ladybug asked. 

“She promised to get me an interview with you and Cat Noir.”, Alya replied. “You know, her being your best friend, she was able to-”

“Alya!”, Ladybug snapped. “Lila Rossi is no friend of mine!”

Alya’s jaw snapped shut, taken-aback by the tone of the heroine’s voice and the anger flashing in her eyes.

“What?”, she asked. “But, she-”

“Lied.”, Ladybug replied. “She lied to you, Alya. And she’s been lying to you ever since.”

Alya stood there, rooted to the spot as her mind buzzed with horror. She was a smart girl, she understood the implications of this. If Lila had been lying all this time, that meant she’d posted false information on her blog without verifying the veracity of the source, the one thing any good investigative journalist should have done from the start and what she’d always been saying to Marinette…………… MARINETTE! Marinette had been saying for months that Lila was a liar and Alya had just been brushing her off! Oh no, this was bad! Bad! And then a thought occurred to her.

“Wait a second.”, she said accusingly. “If you knew Lila was a liar from the start, why didn’t you say anything?”

A guilty expression flickered across the faces of both heroes.

“We hoped you would realise she wasn’t being truthful on your own.”, Cat Noir said. “In hindsight, that was a poor move because it meant we weren’t able to head her off early on.”

Alya’s indignation faded at the heroes’ admission of faith in her, replaced with her own guilt. Despite their faith, she hadn’t seen through the deception……….. because it was what she wanted to hear. Just like those morons who read the tabloids, she’d been taken in by something that sounded great regardless of it’s veracity. She wanted to kick herself.

“So she’s not your friend”, she said dully, more of a statement than a question.

Ladybug’s face twisted into an intense scowl of anger.

“No.”, she said. “In fact, she hates me enough that she tried to get an akuma to murder me and we think she’s working with Hawk Moth.”

Alya’s knees shook and she had to brace herself with her bat to keep from collapsing entirely; Lila, an ally of Hawk Moth? She’d trusted her to look after her little sisters! She’d called her a friend, trusted her, helped her……….. and all the while, Lila had been serving that despicable villain! There were so many things wrong with life right now, and five minutes ago it had all been normal and content, if slightly boring. A glass of something was pushed into her hand and she drained it without paying much attention to what it was, but it was good because it kept her hands from shaking. Whether from shock or rage, she wasn’t quite sure.

“OK, this is all so much to take in.”, she said. “Start at the beginning and let’s work from there.”

The heroes obliged, telling her everything they knew, guessed and suspected about Lila Rossi. Shock gave way to righteous anger when she learned that Lila had tried to pass herself off as the Fox Miraculous wielder before being akumatised into Volpina. Righteous anger became murderous rage when she learned that Lila had been lying about being in Achu on Heroes’ Day and been responsible for the illusion of the akumatised Ladybug killing Cat Noir, thus leading to the mass akumatisation and near-victory of Hawk Moth. And then there was the incident with Chameleon, which had come about because Adrien had told her, gently, not to lie and she’d taken offence. She made Nino cry, and that was unforgivable! 

“Right.”, she said. “Unfortunately, whilst this all establishes Lila as an utterly awful person, it doesn’t provide any concrete proof that she’s working with Hawk Moth. A lot of it can be waved off as coincidence or happenstance. And if she’s the daughter of a diplomat, unless all of that was a lie as well, that makes it difficult because if it turns out to be incorrect, she could sue and the Italian authorities would get involved.”

Ladybug and Cat Noir exchanged surprised but impressed looks; Alya was no fool and understood the risks of this. But then they smiled and nodded.

“That’s why we’re here.”, Ladybug said. “We have a plan, but we’ll need your help.”

It took a few seconds for it to register with Alya that Ladybug was holding out a very familiar octagonal wooden box, in which was nestled a very familiar looking necklace. 

“You’re still trusting me with a Miraculous?”, she asked. “After I fell for Lila’s bull?”

“Mistakes are made by everyone, Alya.”, Ladybug replied. “What matters is how we fix them.”

“And we need the Fox Miraculous for our plan to succeed.”, Cat Noir chipped in.

“Cat!”, Ladybug scolded.

“What? We do!”, Cat Noir replied defensively. “Besides, this is also your chance to show Lila what the real Fox Miraculous wielder can do.”

That brought a smirk to Alya’s face as she reached out and took the necklace from within the confines of it's box, a smirk that became a warm smile as Trixx, her kwami, manifested in front of her. Trixx had been fully briefed on the situation and was all too eager to help; he was more of a mischievous trickster than a malicious one and despised lies aimed at ruining people’s lives. He was also very happy to see Alya again and forgiving of her mistakes, as sometimes foxes got a bit too caught up in their own illusions to see through others. Alya quickly sent a text to her parents telling them that she was out with a couple of friends in case they came back and were worried by an empty apartment.

“You know the magic words!”, was all he would say.

“Then in that case, Trixx, let’s pounce!”, Alya said.

The rush of power as she was enveloped in her Miraculous transformation never ceased to make her feel amazing. Her sight, normally so bad without her glasses, was keener than ever and she could smell and hear things far better than in her civilian form. Her flute, a reassuring weight on her back, was in her hand in seconds and she, as always, took a moment to admire the beauty of it’s craftsmanship and appearance before stowing it on the back of her suit as usual.

“So, what’s this plan then?”, she asked. 

“First, we have a stop to make.”, Ladybug replied.

“Then let’s go.”, Rena Rouge replied.

The thrill of running and jumping in her hero persona never got old either. She’d thought that whole “leaping buildings in a single bound” thing in superhero comics was a bit cheesy until she’d actually done it herself. Cat Noir was a bit jealous of her superior athleticism compared to his and Ladybug’s, but she pointed out that they had their tools to help them get around and as cool as her flute was, it didn’t have an extendable feature like the yo-yo and staff for her to use for navigation. After a while, she realised where they were heading; the police station.

“Ah, I think I see where you’re going with this.”, she remarked.

The sight of the three heroes strolling into the police headquarters was met with much excitement, particularly Rena Rouge since she didn’t make a lot of appearances. 

“Hello.”, Ladybug said to the lady at reception. “We’d like to speak to Lieutenant Roger Raincomprix.”

“Of course, Ladybug.”, the woman replied. “Just a moment, I’ll let him know.”

With the exception of the Stoneheart incident, the police hadn’t been dismissive or resentful of the heroes at all. In a refreshing subversion of the classic tropes with police and superpowered vigilantes, the Paris police force understood that the akumas were way above their paygrade and left the magical aspects to Ladybug and Cat Noir, focusing instead on getting people out of the danger zone and cordoning said danger zone off until the heroes saved the day. On the flip side, Ladybug and Cat Noir did not interfere with police matters outside their jurisdiction of akuma attacks, though they would help apprehend particularly dangerous criminals and were available for request. In this case, however, it covered both their jurisdictions; Hawk Moth, in light of his actions in turning people to his cause and sending them out to commit mass destruction in the French capital city, had been declared a terrorist by the relevant authorities. And whilst akumatised victims were not subject to prosecution as they were not in their right minds and any damages caused were instantly fixed by Ladybug’s Lucky Charm, the prospect of someone willingly being akumatised was a whole different kettle of fish as that implied willing collaboration with a terrorist. And that was something the police could handle. Lieutenant Roger was most interested to hear what they had to say, as well as disturbed and wary.

“These are very serious accusations, as I’m sure you’re aware.”, he said as he regarded them from behind his desk. “Especially towards a girl whose mother is a diplomat. If these accusations turn out to be unfounded, it could lead to serious political repercussions and affect the relationship between Italy and France.”

“We’ve considered that, Lieutenant Raincomprix.”, Ladybug replied. “And we have a plan in place to verify if it is true. But we need your help.”

Lieutenant Roger thought hard to himself. This was risky, and had the potential to blow up spectacularly in their faces and ruin a lot of careers, his own included, if it did. But on the other hand, the evidence they’d presented already had been pretty compelling, enough to convince him that it was worth more investigation, and it would deprive Hawk Moth of a useful ally, which was good. Anything to rob that wretched bastard of one more weapon in his campaign of terror, destruction and disorder. Finally, he nodded.

“Very well, you’ve convinced me.”, he said. “What do you have in mind?”

Ladybug told him.

======================================================================================================

Lila Rossi sighed with relief as yet another unbelievably boring school day came to an end. Pretending to pay attention in class was a lot of work, especially with Ms. Mendeleiev who missed nothing and was completely immune to any tears and pleas for sympathy. At least it allowed her to draw the others in ever closer to her with their own sympathies, allowing her to finagle even more out of them. Although, there were hints that some of them were starting to wise up to her; Nathaniel had been increasingly distant ever since his boyfriend had pointed out an inconsistency in one of her stories and Alix had been shooting her darkly suspicious looks that hinted she was doubting her word. Lila wasn’t worried though; if either of them tried to expose or confront her, she’d simply give them the same choice she’d given Marinette. Alix would take priority, as she was more assertive and likely to say something than Nathaniel, who was a shrinking violet in comparison. Adding to her annoyance today was the fact that all the information pertaining to her on the Ladyblog had suddenly disappeared without explanation and Alya had been unusually terse with her when she asked her why, just telling her that the Ladyblog was being overhauled and she didn’t know when they’d be back up. This had irritated her to a considerable degree, not helped by the fact that Marinette and Adrien seemed to be growing closer, something she could not have and which was prompting her to accelerate her plans for Marinette. She already had something in mind that just needed the right time to be put into action. She turned the corner into the street where her apartment was………… and stopped dead. Two people were standing in front of the door to her building, clearly waiting for her, and as she got closer she realised who they were.

Hawk Moth was instantly recognisable of course, since she’d created an illusion of him when she was Volpina. Purple suit with sharp black collar and somewhat ridiculous skintight silver mask, he was leaning casually on his elegant cane with one hand whilst his other hand held an akuma. The other person had to be Mayura, the peacock-themed villainess who’d been seen occasionally. Blue skin and a rather lovely coat with a peacock train, whilst pinkish-indigo eyes stared over the top of a feathered hand fan. Lila’s startlement gave way to delight and she smiled nastily as she approached them.

“Hello, Hawk Moth.”, she said. “My good friend.”

“Hello, Lila Rossi.”, Hawk Moth purred. “My most staunch and useful ally.”

“What can I do for you?”, Lila asked. “You know I’m always willing to help you destroy Ladybug.”

“Precisely what I’ve come to ask you for your help with.”, Hawk Moth replied.

He held up his other hand and Lila saw, with a fresh surge of delight, that there was an akuma nestled in it. Mayura smirked behind her fan.

“Are you willing to help me seize Ladybug and Cat Noir’s Miraculouses?”, he asked.

“Of course, Hawk Moth.”, Lila replied. “You don’t even need to ask.”

“At any cost?”, Mayura asked, fanning herself.

“If I have to burn this city and everyone in it.”, Lila replied.

Lila reached out for the akuma with a dark smile, already envisioning the mental torture she’d put Ladybug through before ripping her earrings out, her fingers closed on it………………. and suddenly Hawk Moth’s form seemed to blur and fade away like smoke, leaving a grinning Cat Noir in his place. Lila staggered backwards in surprise.

“Good. Because that’s all we needed to hear.”, he said.

“We?”, blurted Lila.

Mayura chuckled and reached out to take Cat Noir’s other hand; her blue countenance melted away to reveal the red-and-black spots of her hated enemy, Ladybug, who smirked at her.

“Thank you for that little confession, Lila.”, she said. “It was most enlightening.”

“Wha-?”, Lila blurted, still stunned. “How-?”

“With a little help from our new hero friend.”, Cat Noir said, winking.

Lila heard someone touch down behind her on the pavement and turned to find herself facing that fox heroine who’d recently appeared on the scene, Rena Rouge or some such. Around her neck was the same necklace Lila had upstairs in her room and which she’d used to try and convince Adrien that she was a superhero herself, except with the tail being divided into five glowing segments. Rena had recharged her batteries in case she was needed, as her previous illusion would last until she dispelled it or it was touched. She was holding her flute in a way that Lila didn’t like, as though she was tempted to whack her over the head with it, and was clearly very angry.

“I am Rena Rouge, the true wielder of the Fox Miraculous!”, she said, pointing her flute at Lila like a sword. “Not the flimsy, false facsimile you claimed to be.”

Lila had never before been threatened with a musical instrument and found herself backing away. Then she reasserted herself.

“Oh, bravo!”, she sneered. “You don’t have any proof other than your own word that anything of what I just said was real. It’ll never hold up.”

“Don’t be so sure of that.”, Cat Noir said.

“Officers.”, Ladybug called out sweetly.

Lila’s blood went cold at that and she stared in horror as several police officers, some of them armed, appeared from various hiding spots. One of them, whom she vaguely recognised as Sabrina’s father, approached her with a very nasty look on his face.

“So, it’s true.”, he said. “You ARE working with Hawk Moth. I didn’t think anyone could sink so low as to willingly associate with that scum, but clearly I was wrong.”

They closed in on her from all sides.

“None of that is usable in court!”, Lila protested. “I didn’t know it was them, so none of this counts!”

“So you thought they were the real Hawk Moth and Mayura?”, Lieutenant Roger asked.

“Yes!”, Lila said, seizing on that.

“And yet instead of running away screaming or summoning the police, you walked right up to them and greeted Hawk Moth as, and I quote, “my good friend.”, Lieutenant Roger replied.

“Well, you see, that was just………….”, Lila began.

“Not only that, but he offered to akumatise you and you accepted it without a second thought.”, chipped in another officer. 

“That wasn’t-”, Lila protested.

“And when called his most staunch and useful ally, you did not deny it and openly volunteered your services if it meant harming Ladybug.”, said a second officer.

“You misunderstood!”, Lila protested.

Judging by the multitude of scoffs, that flew like an elephant with paper wings.

“I think we’ve heard enough.”, Lieutenant Roger said, taking out a pair of handcuffs.

Lila was caught, caught like a rat in a trap. But even trapped rats can be dangerous and as Lieutenant Roger advanced on her with the cuffs, she decided to play her trump card, the one hand they couldn’t beat.

“I’ve got diplomatic immunity!”, she said confidently, smirking to herself. “My mother’s a diplomat. You can’t touch me!”

Rena Rouge let out a very fox-like snarl and her hands clutched her flute hard enough that the instrument creaked in protest, but Lieutenant Roger remained unruffled as he slapped the cuffs on her perhaps a little harder than necessary.

“Is that so?”, he asked in a lofty voice. “Then let’s go and have a little chat with her. I’m sure she’ll be very interested in hearing just what her daughter’s been up to.”

Mrs. Caterina Rossi was indeed very interested and, by the time they’d finished, very, very angry. Angry enough that she would have been akumatised right then and there if Ladybug had not been present and Hawk Moth eventually took the hint after losing four butterflies in a row. After ranting herself hoarse at Lila, Mrs. Rossi proceeded to crush any remaining hope Lila had of escaping her present situation by informing her that, as she was only a junior diplomat, immunity only applied to her and not to Lila. The story leaked to the press and almost resulted in another mass akumatisation when the Parisian people learned that Lila had been responsible for half the population getting akumatised on Heroes’ Day (the sheer influx of emotions knocked Gabriel out cold and left him with a migraine for the next two days), with an angry mob gathering outside the Italian embassy with pitchforks, torches, picket signs and even a hastily assembled but nevertheless functional guillotine. The full story debuted officially with Nadja Chamack as she interviewed Ladybug, Cat Noir and Rena Rouge on Prime Time, netting the show a record-breaking number of viewers.

In the interests of her own safety, though it wasn’t a particularly sincere effort, Lila was removed from Paris to a secured facility before being discreetly transferred back to Italy to serve a minimum 25 year sentence, after which only then would she be considered eligible for parole. Monitored round the clock by eminently trained psychologists, Lila quickly proved herself a classic sociopath, trying to conceal her true nature beneath a veneer of kind helplessness and coaxing inmates into trying to help her escape. Inbetween these failed attempts, which only further convinced the authorities that she should never be allowed to see the light of day again unless they implanted a tracking chip in her skull, she entertained thoughts of revenge on the heroes and delusions that Hawk Moth would come and rescue her, not letting his most useful ally rot in prison. How wrong she was. After waking up and swallowing half a bottle of aspirin, Gabriel’s sole reaction to the news of her arrest, deportation and imprisonment was a muted shrug and an “Oh, well. She was useful while she lasted.” With Lila far from Paris, Marinette was able to breathe more easily and Adrien actually began to notice her as something more than a friend, whilst Bunnyx watched happily as time took it’s natural course and the future looked much brighter. And each time she felt a slight twinge of guilt for abusing her time powers, the memory of Cat Blanc came back to chase it away.

=================================================================

**Author's Note:**

> Soooooooo, that was something else, wasn't it?
> 
> Firstly, I was suspicious as to why Lila was not involved in the events of the episode "Cat Blanc" as I felt she would not have stood idly by as Marinette and Adrien fell in love and became a couple, trying to sabotage it however she could and with Gabriel's (indirect) blessing so he could akumatise Marinette. So I wrote this in response to those thoughts, and though Lila throws in her lot with Hawk Moth at the critical moment, it ends up backfiring on her horribly when her interference prevents Ladybug from stopping Cat Noir's akumatisation, resulting in her own death when Cat Blanc loses control and destroys the city.
> 
> The inclusion of the class was to add to the tragic element, as we all know they likely died when Cat Blanc accidentally Cataclysmed Paris. I put them in the thick of things, where they find out Lila's not who they think she is and learn Adrien and Marinette are the heroes before dying in the explosion. All of them love and care for each other in some way and, realising there's no escape, face the end with dignity whilst trying to offer some comfort to each other in their last moments. I will confirm that for Marc/Nathaniel, Juleka/Rose and Mylene/Ivan, their last words to each other were "I love you". Even Chloe dies well because, whilst I despise her and think she was unworthy of the Bee Miraculous, I didn't forget that she shielded Sabrina from the swarm of scarlet akumas in "Ladybug" and felt that deserved a mention. In contrast to them, Lila abandons them all and tries to flee like a coward, dying alone and in agony.
> 
> The description of what happened to Lila is consistent with what a pyroclastic flow does to its victims. Cataclysm appeared more like a nuclear detonation in the episode proper, but a nuclear explosion wouldn't leave behind any traces of the victims save a shadow on the wall or floor. For added realism, I've actually been to Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy and seen the plaster-cast statues of the victims' bodies as well as being told in graphic detail what their final moments would have been like. You'll die in seconds, but the most painful seconds of your life. It's not a pleasant thought.
> 
> Hawk Moth/Gabriel was made even worse than in the episode because "Cat Blanc" was where he showed himself to be completely irredemable and the pursuit of the Miraculous has destroyed whatever goodness and moral restraint he had, breaking the hearts of a teenage girl and his own son and akumatising the latter without a second thought. If Emilie ever does come out of that coma and learns what he's done, I hope she slugs him in the face for it.
> 
> Alya and the Fox Miraculous was the most enjoyable part to write for me. I love adding elements of karma into my stories and taking down a false fox with the real fox was just too good an opportunity to pass up. "Miraculer" and "Miracle Queen" both showed that the Fox illusions can disguise a person, so that was brought in with Cat Noir and Ladybug being disguised as Hawk Moth and Mayura as part of their little "sting" operation. A lot of what Lila has done can be waved off as coincidence; they'd need concrete proof of her collaboration with Hawk Moth, and that's what they did. 
> 
> Finally, the time travel aspect was explained as best I could. I have a lot of free time and an active imagination, so that's how I thought the Rabbit Miraculous and the Burrow worked.
> 
> More CONSEQUENCES on the way. Next installment will be based around Marc and Nathaniel.


End file.
